The North Carolina State University School of Design was established in 1948 with two original academic components: the Department of Architecture and the Department of Landscape Architecture. In the late 1950s the school added a third degree-granting unit, the Department of Product Design. In its early years, under the leadership of founding Dean Henry L. Kamphoefner, the School of Design experienced a remarkable period of creative and intellectual development. Designers and theorists such as Buckminster Fuller, Matthew Nowicki, Lewis Mumford, and Eduardo Catalano joined the faculty and helped build a reputation for innovation and experimentation. Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Louis I. Kahn, Pier Luigi Nervi, Charles Eames, Marcel Breuer, and numerous other internationally prominent figures came to lecture, to conduct design experiments, and to inspire a new generation of designers. The legacy of imagination, diversity, and excellence set by this first generation has continued throughout the school’s history.

During the School of Design’s early history its students won numerous national recognitions, including Prix de Rome, Fulbright scholarships, and five Paris prizes. They initiated an outstanding student publication reflecting the school’s experimental posture. Many went on to the nation’s leading graduate schools and assumed important positions in architectural practice and education. Recent graduates continue this illustrious tradition, readily gaining admission to prestigious graduate programs and quickly entering positions of leadership in the profession.

Since it was founded in 1948, the NC State’s School of Architecture has earned a national reputation for the depth and breadth of its programs. According to Robert Burns, FAIA, and former department head, "At the core of the school in these early years was an uncompromising belief that comprehensive design would produce a healthy environment, an improved society, and a better way of life for all. Experimental in nature, the school was open to new ideas and challenges. It identified with the progressive aspirations of the New South, but its perspective was global. Unlike many of its peer institutions emerging from traditional academic positions, the school’s zeal for the new was balanced by an uncommon concern for the broad development of the individual student who was expected to assume a formative role as a creative leader and committed citizen."

Founded in part on Bauhaus educational principles, the school emphasized the interrelationship of the design disciplines, materials and craft, and social responsibility. As Matthew Nowicki noted, "Art una—species mille," ("Art may be one, but there are a million species").

In its early years the Department of Architecture offered a single degree: the five-year Bachelor of Architecture. In the late 1960s, it added a 4+2 professional Master of Architecture curriculum. This new structure was seen as a way to address many newly emerging professional and academic issues and provide broader opportunities for students to pursue alternative as well as traditional career paths. The 4+2 curriculum encouraged diversity and increased student choice in shaping their future roles in architecture. The Bachelor of Architecture degree was phased out in 1972, but was reactivated a decade later.

Since the 1980s the Department of Architecture has offered three degrees: the four-year, pre-professional Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture (BEDA), the professional 4+1 Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch), and the Master of Architecture (M.Arch). The latter two degree programs are accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board and, as such, satisfy the educational requirements for architectural licensure in North Carolina and throughout the nation.

In the last twenty years, the School of Architecture has been ably guided by a succession of department heads and directors, including Robert Burns, FAIA, from 1983 to 1991; Dr. Paul Tesar from 1991 to 1992; Christos Saccopoulos, AIA, from 1992 to 1997; Dr. Fatih A. Rifki from 1997 to 2001; and Robert Burns, FAIA, from 2001 to 2002. Thomas Barrie, AIA, was appointed director in 2002.

A new generation of architecture faculty and students has furthered the tradition of innovation and commitment to excellence established in the college’s formative period. The sister departments of Landscape Architecture, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, and Art and Design offer architecture students opportunities for educational enrichment. A variety of foreign study programs are available in many parts of the world.

In 2000, when the School of Design was renamed the College of Design, the Department of Architecture was renamed the School of Architecture in anticipation of expanding its degree and program opportunities. In August 2004 Director Thomas Barrie presented to Dean Malecha, the full-time faculty, and students of the School of Architecture a document entitled Visions, Goals and Priorities for the Future of the School of Architecture at North Carolina State University (see binder of additional documents accompanying the APR). This document outlines strategies for retaining and revitalizing the traditional strengths of the School of Architecture while making changes to retain relevancy and establish leadership in design education and scholarship.

Professor Barrie envisions a school that offers diverse opportunities for students, creates an optimal setting for the support of faculty teaching, scholarship and leadership, and contributes significantly to the professional community and public. His goal is to foster an academic community of leaders on the leading edge of design, scholarship, and the profession.